Mandybstorm

Hi howard, your name was mentioned at the boatyard on our return! We were chatting about the boats good points and how certain people have a soft spot for her. I presume it was tony i spoke with. He said they were going to retire her but had a change of heart. We really liked her. Have payed much more for a newer, flashier boat and not been as comfortable.

Hi speedtriple, Dog wasnt directly on bedding or sofa as we always come very prepared with large fake fur throws, old sheets, extra duvet covers etc. so that they don't damage anything or hair things up. I also always hoover any hair up before we hand boat back as i know dog hair can drive people nutty. Couple at boat yard were aware we came armed with doggy supplies as the came onto boat to chat and bring spare sheets aboard for us. No complaints when we handed her back so i'm sure they were quite happy. It is almost impossible to keep them down in such a confined space. They often retreat to a bedroom or even the shower tray when moving as the engine noise is not their favourite sound. Not all boatyards are as dog friendly though i know!

Had a great week on swan royale, a great boat despite her age. Very comfortable layout which suited us well. We had the rear double so we could let the dogs out for late night wees without too much disturbance. Brandon aged 12 had the front bedroom all to himself so he was well happy. Freshwater toilets that did not smell unlike some we have used. Quite tight when it came to showering but managed ok. Nice touch with free sample size toiletries provided. Galley area nice and clean with good fridge and oven. Toaster provided which got lots of use. Good range of kitchen equipment but could of done with another baking tray. Usually take a spare but forgot this time. Plenty of crockery and glasses etc.. Small selection of tea, coffee, sugar, milk was provided which we have never had before. We were also provided with old sheets to protect the interior should the dogs get muddy. I do always bring a couple but for those who may forget they would come in very handy. A good sized comfortable l shaped sofa. Plenty of room for two adults to lay flat out. I even slept on it a couple of times after a certain labrador invaded my bed!! All in all a very nice boat for the price, one that we would use again if she was available. Thank you swancraft! We managed to moor at all our chosen sites this time which is not always the case in august. We stayed at chedgrave, aldeby, st bennets abbey, oulton broad ,gays staithe, cantley and woods end on our last night. Had some good weather for april. Back in august but with teenagers in tow so will have to stay at the rowdy moorings to keep them happy. Dogs staying at dunstan lodge if i can bear to leave them! It will result in tears that's for sure. Hubby will have to drop them off. Counting down the days!!!

Almost at berney arms. Hoping to catch sue h before they pass through breydon so we can have a look round ms. Fingers crossed we spot each other.

Congratulations neil! Both thunder and lightening are moored up opposite to us at the moment! We are at oulton broad. It was so sunny yesterday we look like a couple of beetroots. Damp and drizzly this morning though. Mind you it is only 7, rudely awaken by the dogs needing their morning constituitional.

Hi neil, on the broads at the moment, we are going to try and look round ms on saturday after we hand our boat over. Been looking out for her out and about but no luck. Saw lightening shadow and ranworth breeze. It is almost a 5 hour journey for us so really would like a look before we head home. Talked it over and it is something we are both interested in doing.

cheers :dance All went well at the vets today. He said she is making good progress. Nothing bad showed up on the tests other than a yeast infection and a very nasty bacteria that I have now totally forgotten the name of! She has been given another 10 days worth of medication (antibiotics) with instructions to go back for another check up as soon as we get home from the broads. We have been advised to have her spayed once she has fully recovered. A slight blow as I would of loved to have a pup from her but her health is way more important. Counting down the days now until we are on the boat and I can RELAX!!!

hi everyone, sorry if I haven't responded to anyone's posts this week but had a nightmare going on at home. My 6 year old Labrador was taken ill very suddenly on Sunday night. We needed the emergency vet and I did think that we may lose her. To cut a very long story short it appears that she had developed mastitis which quickly started to turn into a type of septicaemia making her very ill. It happened within a matter of hours and was very scary to watch. She has needed constant nursing in the following days but now appears to be recovering. This is quite rare in a dog that has not had puppies I believe and the cause is thought to of been a false pregnancy. She has been taking a large number of different drugs which have left her totally spaced out. We did think that we wouldn't be able to make it down on the 19th after all! She is back at the vets on Monday morning for test results (to make sure there are no underlying cancers). She seems a fair bit brighter today so we are hoping she will be well enough to cope with a week on a boat. Feel totally wiped out physically and emotionally! I'm sure the other dog owners out there will appreciate what a scare we have had. She is such a special girl and I can't believe we came so close to losing her without warning. Anyway fingers crossed for good results on Monday and I will try to respond to any posts and personal messages over the next few days. xx

I've started something here haven't i!!! I would be interested if someone who knew what they were doing was involved! The logistics of it all seem very daunting. I have the money and the inclination just not the know how!!!

Thanks Alan, already seen that one before we booked. I was hoping for a youtube video or something for a warts and all poke around the loo ect... Been on the laptop all day, must log off before I go boseyed! Hubby watching the voice (not my cup of tea).

Forgot to say Ranworth Breeze looks great, very swish. The sort of thing I would love if I didn't have kids or scabby dogs!!! Maybe one day!

Just fired off an enquiry email about the two you mentioned so will wait and see what comes back. I suspect the big issue will be the school holiday thing. Do you know how willing people normally are to swap weeks? I imagine that the majority of part owners are retired and would prefer to come out of the school holidays or am I just wishful thinking there? oooo all excited now! we have been toying with the idea of a motorhome over the past few months but I think this may be a better idea all round. We are ex caravanners, sold when our Freelander died a death.

Thanks Alan I will take a look at those. This is something we would definitely be interested in. It would have to be during school hols though for the next four years at least until Brandon finishes. Other son Joe now 18 so has become fairly independent. Dog friendly also a must. Look forward to hearing from Matt & Sue as well then. We seem to be coming down at least two weeks per year at the moment so it would make sense really. We may be able to manage one out of term week if granny stepped in. If anyone knows of any suitable shares for sale please get in touch. Also advice on the legal ins and out welcome, scams to look out for ect..

Thanks Norfolknog That's reassured me! You just never know do you, it's so difficult when you've only got the photos to go by. I haven't been able to find many reviews of her at all. Do you have any photos you could email me of the inside? No worries if not, i'll just have to wait, only 14 sleeps as they say! Blimey, I'd better get the roofbox on!!!

Whilst browsing the boats available for hire I have come across a few shared ownership sites. This is something I have never been aware of until now. It has grabbed my interest as we have been down to the broads a few times now and spent a fortune on hire boats. We love it on the water as we can potter around, look at the wildlife, take photos, walk the dogs and generally chill out. The only thing that would put a spanner in the works is the fact that on all the ones I've seen the allocated weeks are drawn from a hat. This would not suit us at the moment having a 12 year old that has to attend or we will be fined. Does anyone know of a scheme where we could use our weeks in school holidays? Also the other concern would be the dogs, do any accept dogs? Obviously bringing them along is a big part of why we come to the broads as 99% of kennels are horrendous and I wouldn't subject my worst enemy to them. Does anyone on the forum have experience in this method of ownership or feel able to point us in the direction of someone who does? I would imagine there are scams and pitfalls in this as in most things so any advice welcome.

Hi Folks Thanks for all your help. After much deliberation, phone calls, emails and hours spent browsing we have finally booked. We have gone for Swan Royale via the Hoseasons site. We have run it through Quidco and it was already discounted so not a bad deal all round. I just hope she is ok as I understand she is an old boat. Nice and flat for the dogs, 240 volts for the gadgets, sliding roof incase of sunshine, bedroom at the rear for sneaking out with the dogs for late night tiddles. It also looks as though she has a reasonable size sofa too? Has anyone hired her? Hoping I made the right choice!

Looking at your boat Fine freedom. We wanted 19th for 7 days but I see she is booked for weekend. We could maybe do the mon/ sun is that a possibility? back to school Monday! unless of course I take him out for a day and face the fine! Fiona from Hoseasons just emailed me back with a costing for blenhiem, I was cheeky and asked for a discount plus free dogs as we are already booked with them in aug on silver spirit. If you don't ask you don't get. She has quoted £900 all in for the 7 days on blenhiem and £919 on grande girl 2, not confirmed yet so would you be able to do a deal maybe? Private message me today if you could please. Also looked at tranquil freedom but not sure about the roof as we would prefer to be able to open up just in case by some miracle the sun shines. Make me the right offer though and we may be tempted

We have decided to try and book a last minute trip down on the 19th april for a week. been working 7 day weeks for I don't know how long and I'm exhausted. Not many boats to choose from with 1 child and 2 big dogs in tow so we need to make a quick choice. I have spotted Alpha Blenhiem which looks ok, has anyone hired her or have any insider knowledge about her please? Also is it right that all richardsons boats now have wi fi? Wi fi would be great as we have a 12 year old in tow who simply refuses to dog walk with us so will need his ipad to keep him out of trouble. we have already booked silver spirit for august so this is an unexpected trip! Yipee, hope we can find a nice boat at such short notice. Thankyou

Hi loribear So sorry only just spotted your question from feb!!! Yes quidco is great! If you buy things online you get a percentage back, sometimes as high as 6 or 7% it is paid straight into your bank account every few weeks. We always put our greenflag breakdown, car insurance, holidays even dog food through quidco. I got £40 back from a years greenflag and £50 on car insurance, £60 on broads holiday. Well worth it. Xx

Hi Loribear, We booked through hoseasons and got an early booking discount so got it a few hundred pounds cheaper than listed on their website. Plus I ran it through quidco so got another £60 cashback! Got teenage son and girlfriend coming so the three separate bedrooms was a must if you know what I mean The two fridges also caught my eye, one for my veggie food and gin and the other for whatever the other lot want to eat!!! Mandy xx

Thanks for replies. She looks a great boat. Looking forward to it already. It will be nice to reach some of the places we couldnt get to last year. We were going to book in greece but my 12 year old pulled a face and said he just wanted to come to the broads again! Also bringing 18 year old son and the girlfriend! So thats the mooring up, water filling and washing up sorted! We have had the fair countess, superior gem and the platinum emblem in the past so a bit of variety of styles. We do tend to eat mostly on the boat though mainly due to a cash shortage and a very fussy child. Im a veggie too so tend to make a lot of curries and soups. Last year i even baked bread and cheese scones en route! We dont have a lot of spare cash so try to get the best boat we can afford and then scrimp a bit on eating out ect.. We do a lot of walking and looking for free places to visit. I judge a boat mainly on its toilet!!! This is due to a rather unfortunate and smelly toilet incident whilst on the superior gem. This was imprinted on my memory and nostrils forever!!! So looking forward to getting on the boat and checking out the lavvy.

Hi everyone, Just booked again for the 30th August. Not bringing the dogs this year so that we can get out and about a bit more and visit places that are not dog friendly. We have booked the Silver spirit we I believe has had a refurb. has anyone used this boat before or seen her since the refurb. Nice low boat so no problem with bridges this year. We had platinium emblem last year which was very swish but quite restrictive due to the height. 229 days to go!!!!

Hi Julz I'm a dog walker/animal sitter so I work in both cromford and wirksworth. We are ex caravaners at the moment after selling ours and later regretting it. Undecided at the moment between a caravan and motor home. Been looking around locally and hopefully we may get sorted by next spring. We had an elddis oddysey 524. At salhouse again this evening before handing the boat over tomorrow. Had a look around a few more boats at ferry marina this morning just in case we rebook for next summer. It has been a good holiday and sad to be going home but ready for a good soak in the bath.

Had a nice night at chedgrave. Great field for dog walking. Walked into Loddon and had a very tasty chip shop meal sat by the marina.lots of fish to see. Managed to get in at reedham today and waited for slack water at Yarmouth. Had a walk around, a very pretty little place. Had a doggie nightmare today though! One ended up in the water which caused 30 seconds of sheer terror and then the other one trod on a wasp and caused a drama. A dog can die in 20 minutes from a wasp sting so its wise to treat them ASAP. Gave her a piriton and grabbed some baking powder from the post office lady to make a poultice. Thankfully she was ok! Managed to moor up at st bennets after quite a long day. Getting to be a dab hand at boat cooking. Had curries, pasta and homemade sauces, homemade cheese scones, soups. It's amazing what you can do in such a small space.

Ohhhh spoke too soon a boat of all males just pulled up! Drat and double drat!